Prescott, Arizona (Nov. 20, 2025) – Yavapai College, like many schools and business around the world, have embraced various artificial intelligence (AI) platforms as an institution, such as Zoom AI companion and Google Gemini.

One area in which another AI technology is being deployed at Yavapai College is Human Resources. That department has adopted BrainTrust AI Recruiter, a product that uses AI to conduct first-pass interviews to screen applicants for open positions with the school.

“Yavapai College started evaluating this product in February,” said Dr. Richard Pierce, Yavapai College Information Technology Systems Relationship Manager. “We set up a pilot program with different academic units, like Nursing and other professional programs. For our students who are going to be matriculating into the workforce, we wanted them to practice their interview skills. The goal would be for the students to take the pre-interview survey, take the interview, and maybe a second, and then a post-interview survey.”

BrainTrust AIR is an all-in-one hiring solution used by numerous Fortune 500 companies to facilitate human resource processes.  The tool conducts online interviews via a web conferencing platform, like Zoom or Teams. BrainTrust AIR is up-front about its nature when it interviews people—applicants are made aware that they are engaging with an AI platform.

Dr. Pierce shared the recruiting and interviewing technology with Dr. Janet Nix, Yavapai College’s Human Resources Chief Officer. Nix engaged with it in the guise of a job applicant and was very interested in it.

“Bottom line, this AI helps us be more efficient and takes away bias,” Dr. Nix said. “Here at Yavapai College, one of the hardest things to do is pick and attend the meetings for the multiple interviews. This helps make us more efficient and the turnaround time to hire is quicker.

Yavapai College Human Resources only officially started using the AI recruiter at the beginning of November, so there is no outcome data as yet. As Dr. Pierce noted, the college is also using it to help students become more familiar and comfortable in a job interview setting.

“The AI process has a great way of doing follow up questions, and not everyone is adept at that,” said Dr. Nix. “I used the AI recruiter as a job applicant doing an interview on a topic for which I knew just enough to be in trouble. The follow up questions help determine more deeply the level of knowledge expressed by the applicant in a given subject. It helps determine that their responses are general but reveals that applicants possess no real-world experience.”

Part of Dr. Pierce's role at Yavapai College is to try and test out new technologies and platforms that the school is considering deploying in specific areas or district-wide.

“I liaise between ITS and academic and staff departments,” said Dr. Pierce. “My superpower is to be able to partner with Yavapai College Executive Director of Learning and Educational Innovation Robyn Bryce—we are a super team.”

All first-screen applicants will do an interview with this tool. The service provides is a scorecard for each one and a recording of the interview. Yavapai College hiring managers can watch the interview and look at the scorecards based on their responses.

“It's an interesting thought experiment to consider: you've got the direct cost of this service, the indirect cost of all the committee work and all that on the other side, so I've engaged Yavapai College’s Dr. Megan Hanna—Faculty Program Director in Business—to help me evaluate this first-year project in terms of return on investment,” said Dr. Pierce.

Yavapai College operates seven campuses and centers throughout Yavapai County and offers over 100 degrees and certificates, four baccalaureate degrees, student and community services, and cultural events and activities. To learn more about Yavapai College, visit www.yc.edu.